Cazenovia football players run drills on Tuesday at Fayetteville-Manlius as they prepare for their regional playoff game against Maine-Endwell. Some of the players are missing winter practices due to the deep playoff run.JOHN HAEGER @ONEIDAPHOTO ON TWITTER - ONEIDA DAILY DISPATCH

For many athletes, this time of year is when practices shift from cold, frozen fields into warm gymnasiums.

Football and field hockey players from Cazenovia will have to wait until at least next week to make that transition.

While winter sports started practice Monday, deep postseason runs by the Lakers in those two sports have extended the fall season.

Field hockey coach Lorraine Scheftic allowed her players to attend Monday’s basketball practice with a few exceptions: no contact and no running. For Rachel McLaughlin, Sarah Liddell, Maria Stalder and Bella Wheeler that meant just shooting around during the first day of practice.

“It can be really demanding,” said McLaughlin of being involved in two sports at once. “I think its entertaining to be busy all the time rather than sitting at home watching TV.”

The girls basketball players have it a little tougher than the indoor track runners for a couple reasons. First, many agreed that building chemistry during practice was slightly more important in a team sport like basketball. The basketball season also starts sooner, with the Lakers’ first game scheduled for November 26. Fortunately, four field hockey practices count towards the required minimum of 10 practices players need to be eligible for the first game.

“It’s really weird playing two sports at once,” said Liddell, who was also celebrating a birthday on Tuesday. “I feel like I’m still in field hockey season.”

Liddell and her teammates agreed that it was hard to not give 100 percent to both sports but Scheftic said coaches Chris Carpenter and Kurt Wheeler were very understanding. Wheeler’s missing six athletes from his indoor track team but its first meet isn’t until December 13.

Colleen Stalder, Sarah Willard and Meredith Shephard all agreed that there will still be plenty of time to prepare for the indoor track season.

“Indoor track preseason is not the most fun in the world,” said Hannah Light-Olson, another indoor track runner. “But it’s hard coming back to a team that already has chemistry.”

Light-Olson and her indoor track teammates agreed that having so many of them on the field hockey team would make that transition easier, although Hannah Dain had some concerns about missing out on preparation time.

Still, none of the girls seemed upset about their practice situation.

“I love both sports so much,” said Ashley Kent, who runs indoor track. “I’m just glad I have this opportunity to play with my teammates.”

As with field hockey, a maximum of four football practices count toward the number required to be eligible for winter sports.

Kevin Hopsicker said that members Cazenovia’s football team have been able to attend about fifteen minutes of basketball practice each day to shoot around.

“It’s definitely going to be tough,” said Hopsicker, who has played basketball for the past three seasons. “But our coach understands and he wants us to go as far as we can in football so that’s good too.”

Andrew Vogl, another returning basketball player, was a little more anxious than his teammate to get back on the court.

“We talked to the basketball coaches and they said it was fine but I still feel bad,” Vogl said. “I just want to get back out there.”

“But I want to keep the football rolling,” he added, smiling.

Teammate Ryan O’Herien will run indoor track again this winter.

“I’m just not going to come into the indoor season as conditioned as I’d like to be,” O’Herien said of the practice situation.

But like the field hockey players, O’Herien was confident that he would have plenty of time to prepare before the first meet in December.

Vogl shared similar fears about making the transition from football to winter sports season.

“I definitely will be a little out of shape,” he said. “Basketball is different than football. But I should be able to get back into it.”

Members of the team agreed that they are excited to continue football season even if it means missing out on practices.

“Football is my first love so I’d like to be out here as long as we can and hopefully make a run at it,” Hopsicker said.

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About the Authors

Courtney Haupt, the assistant sports editor at the Oneida Dispatch, can best be described as a sports junkie. A recent Newhouse graduate, the Maryland native covers high school sports around the area. You can follow Courtney on Twitter at @DispatchHaupt. Reach the author at chaupt@oneidadispatch.com
or follow Courtney on Twitter: @DispatchHaupt.

Kyle Mennig, sports editor for the Oneida Dispatch, originally hails from Munnsville. Kyle graduated from Geneseo State in 2008 and covers local sporting events, focusing on area high schools. Reach the author at kmennig@oneidadispatch.com
or follow Kyle on Twitter: @DispatchKyle.